Towel rack



Nov; 15, 1949 TOWEL RACK Filed March 26, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 Y Nov. 15, 1949 l y JLRoUssO 2,487,896

TOWEL RACK Filed March 26, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STAT ES PATENT GFFICE TOWEL RACK Jacques Rousse, Los` Angeles', Calif.

Appleation March Z6, 194'5, Seriali No; 584,786

' sI claims; (C1. 2in-rer This invention relates to improvements. in towel-holding and towell-locking devices. More particularly, this invention relates to improved mea-ns for holding; storing, positioning and con* trollingV towels, both clean and. soiled..

More particularly also, the invention. relates to the provision of a; channeled traclsway which or on which shoes are adapted. to-v move. 'Ihese shoes are in the formA oi projections on' rings'vholding` one or more towels; preferably' ai relatively large number of towels.

The invention. also relates' to improved means for holding towelsy without cabinets; etc.

kThe invention also relates. to.l improvements: in shelvesI for positioning and; holding towels...

The inven-tion. alsof. comprehends improvements in positioning the towel-carrying rings on the rack, so that a set of clean towels; will' be presented until alli the towels are soiled and" then these towels may bez moved outset the way and replaced by ai new set'. of' ciean towels'.

Inl general', brythemeansa which I have provided, the rings carrying one on more. towels may be positioned. in an orderly rnam'ler and'. may be stored' and. moved into positonfor use.. and. moved tothe place for storage: ot soiled towels, all in a consecutive'. orderly mainner.A

Another object hars; been. the provision of such a device which, isf simpie" tomakef andi. use1 and inexpensive to produce..

Further advantages'. anni: objects: of myv invention will-appear and: be broughtout more4 fully in: the accompanying drawing. iniwhichc.-

, Fig.. l is' a sdaelevation..

Fig. 2 is; a front eleva-tion;

Fig-Iris atop-plan Fig'. 4' is. aiperspeetive view...

Fig.. 5= is a. topf plan. view ofi. one ci the rings and its shoe positioned in the trackway of. th'e rack.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of one of the rings and its shoee inthe raekganuii iliiis-trating the catchmeans for positioning a single ring, so that one set of' the towels i's` brought in position for use.

Fig. '7 is; an detailed! section on.` the: Ii'ne I-1 of Fig. 4.

:dignar is. a view of one. type, of. shoe, and" Eig. i's a vi'ew'of another type. of shoe.

Referring, to 4the drawing in. detail, inwliich. I have shownthe preferred form utilizing, theprin- Cipleszof my invention, Ihaveshown a bracket I provided'with footings I'I- and1l2'.. Thesefootings may. haveY openings I`3` by wlionthe bracket. may beattachedto 'a wall', ete.

Mounted upon this lzvracketll one end of a channel member or guide I4., which hast an-K upwarld leg I and a top arc I6`, and a downward leg 1.

Mounted by welding or otherwise upon the end of the downward leg IT is. an ooIongAbrack-et t8; which is preferably welded attlle point I9. The bracket Io has. ai horizorlrtall'yA extending amm 2-0 whicn may be welded the. upward. leg.` |15 at point 2 I2. The bracket I- onanneledr as2 at 22, to aeoonnnodateI the upper end'. of the bracket In; to which it may loef connected by welding or. other means..

A snellt 2.3i ie centrally channeled. asat M. where may loe' welded. to' the channelA member Mi at the top of the`- arc'- IG; particularly shown' in Figs... 1.1,.. Z and; 3;

The shelf. is provided azlsol with fenders 25* for keeping the towels-r from; fallmlg sideways.. which shelf may have: a;1ip2-6. 1

The she-lf 2.3 preferably has welded thereto a rod or other similarA member 2l.. which; extends through a borey 2e in a. second shelf. 29,41'. being understood that the shelf 29 is adapted to pivot ontherodz'l'..

This second shelf 29;v may lia-ng downwardly notv in use. upon. the rod 21,. or it may be swr-lingi upwardly' so that it, will. rest also upon. a second rods 3u, which may be weld-ed as. at lo to the opposite. end: of the shell? 2 3.

Secured. to the rod:V 21 is a spring 3 2, oneend of-4 which. is adapted to project i-nthe. path. of the swinging sheli` 29,.' so as tov hold; thev shelf down. as will be readily understood by those skilled iny the: art. without further description other thanv as shoWninFig. 3'

As ilhistrated in 1 and 3", also 5A andl 6, there is shown a ring 3'3 adaptedt'o ho1`d' a plu'- ral'ity of towels 344.. Each. ring. may he provided with a catch. hinged, as at 36,. to t'he bal-ance of the. ring.I It, will .be understood',A as' illustratedin my previous Patent' No 2.,36`3g1`49', dated' November 2L 1944', that locking neans may he provided for locking, the towels on the rings 33'. Each of these rings 3'3 is providedS with a' shoe' sladapted. to bje engaged iin the channel' member |4' and to ride therein. n I The shoe 31 may be in the form shown Daimonl'arly in. Figs.. 5,k of and. 8' or'Fig. 9;. and is" preferonly" cast or votherwise formed. integralli'yi with thering. f

rn Rigs: r. 2 and at the' lower' end or' the I'egr lo of. the channel nremer I have shown. openings 38 for the` accommodation of a fools 3"9, as shown parti'euiarly' irr Fig: '1'.

In Figs. 2 and 4 I have shown only one opening' sii' in ione` side' of" tire channel" rnem'er" 1:42. and. this forni maybe used also', and will satisfactorilv prevent the rings 33`f'rom-l5ei'ngwtl'idraw fo'r' the channel memler I4.

At the upper end.I of the leg I5 ofthe channel member. I have.: shown a stiioni'rg. catch 40,. as particularly shown idF-5%r 5e andl 61. and also in Fig. 1. The catch includes a; pivote'd merhher' having a leg III adapted to normally rest in the pathway of the shoes 31 through an opening 42 in the channel member, and thus normally bar the passage of the shoes.

On the other end of the stationary catch is a weighted member 43, which tends to keep the leg 4I in the path of the shoes.

When it is desired to allow a shoe and the ring with it to pass, all that is necessary is to push the weighted end upwardly and then the leg 4I will be withdrawn from the path of the shoes.

With respect to the operation, to start, the lock 39 may bev unlocked by a key in the hands of the operator who presumably will be the laundry employee who picks up the towels. The lock will be withdrawn and in the first instance the shoes 31 of the various rings 33 with the fresh towels will be inserted into the channel member I4 upon the side or leg I5. As many of these rings as will be required will be placed upon the channel member I4 and then these rings will be run up the channel member across the shelf or shelves and down the other leg I1 of the channel member, Fig. 1 illustrating the position of the clean towels on the leg l1. Thereafter the channel member may be locked and the laundry employee may leave with the assurance that the towels will be locked against being stolen.

When it is desired to use these towels, onev of the rings will be lifted upwardly on the leg i1,

over the top arc I6 of the ,channel member and with the towels thereon, the shoe passes between the halves of the shelf. The towels may then be allowed to rest on the shelf, as in Fig. 1, or, if it is desired, the auxiliary shelf 29 may also be sprung into position under the towels to further aid in positioning the towels.

It will be understood that the first shoe, when brought over the top of the channel member, will be caught by the catch 4U and will rest there until the catch is operated. When all of the ytowels on the rst ring at the catch are used and it is desired to have new towels from the succeeding ring, the catch may be operated and the shoe 31 of the ring 33 which is caught will travel by gravity down the leg I to a point adjacent the lock 39. This operation may be performed over and over with the remaining clean towels until all of the towels are used, or until the laundry man comes, when he will open the lock and remove the rings 33 with the soiled towels 34.

If desired, a second auxiliary shelf 44 may be provided, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The shelf may be a pivoted shelf having ears 45 attached upon a pivot 46 through the arm 20 of the bracket IB. At the other end the shelf may rest upon a spring catch 41 which may be struck out from the bracket I Il. Y

In order to provide for inserting the towels into the rack at the upper endof leg I1, and at the same time provide locking means therefor, I have shown a closure channel member 5I, formed in a similar manner to the channel member I4, only somewhat larger, so" that the member 5I is adapted to slide up and down on the channel member I4.

The closure member 5I may have an apertured lug 52 integrally or otherwise connected to the back of the closure member 5I. Likewise, the back of the leg I1 of the channel member may have integrally or otherwise connected thereto a similar apertured lug 53.

The lugs are adapted to be locked together by a lock 54, having a bolt 55.

4 The leg I1 is adapted to have a cut-out 50 in the sides thereof, so that the shoes of the ring members may be inserted therein, and thus the towels may be dropped downwardly on the leg I1 of the rack. l

Ordinarily the cut-out will be covered by the closure member 5I, the closure member being normally locked in place to lock the towels.

When it is desired to take towels off or to insert towels upon the leg I1, the closure member 5I may be unlocked and moved upwardly oi the cut-out 50. When the towels have been removed and inserted, then the closure member 5I may be dropped down over the cut-out 50 and locked.

While I have illustrated and described the pre ferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variation and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims. Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and' desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

v 1. A rack for holding a plurality of bundles of towels comprising, in combination, a track having a channel therein, a plurality of towel holding rings slidable in said channel, means locking the rings on said track, and means holding a plurality of bundles of clean towels at one end of the track with the said bundles locked on the track. 2. A towel rack of the character described, comprising a track, a channel in said track, a plurality of shoes slidably mounted in the track, a corresponding plurality of towel retaining rings fastened to said shoes, means connected to the track for securing'the shoes and consequently the'rings in position to maintain a plurality of clean towels at a predetermined point on the track, and other means connected to the track for locking the shoes to the track, and to permit their withdrawal therefrom when desired.

3. 1n a towel rack of the character described, a track, a plurality of means slidable in said track, a corresponding plurality of towel retaining rings secured to said means, a cut-out portion on the track for optionally permitting the insertion and removal of said meansl into and from said track, and a closure member slidably mounted on the track and effective for sealing and unsealingsaid cut-out portion as desired.

JACQUES ROUSSO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this' patent:

UNITED STATES'PATENTS NumberV Name Date 1,104,207 McCracken July 21, 1914 1,292,512 Rank Jan. 28, 1919 1,305,048 Bagley May 27, 1919 1,405,194 Ferdon Jan. 31, 1922 1,578,614 Sullivan Mar. 30, 1926 1,697,038 Yehlen Jan. 1,1929 1,990,326 Hunkele Feb. 5, 1935 2,248,388 Rousso July 8, 1941 2,363,149 Rousso Nov. 21, 1944 2,445,495 Rousse July 20, 1948 

